Necessarily Black

Chapter One: Secrets and Lies

"She was goin' somewhere far away."

Nessa scurried down the halls as quickly and quietly as she could. Somewhere in the distance, a loud bell chimed the hour. Twelve strokes—midnight. Crap, she thought as she quickened her pace, ignoring the blistering pain in her calves. She had to do this, had to make sure it was true.

The dean's office was large, with plush midnight blue carpet and a great mahogany desk rising up in the center, the hig-backed, winged leather chair sitting grandly behind it. There was a filing cabinet right behind the desk, its beige paint peeling in some parts. Nessaa zeroed in on it, trying not to disturb anything as she leafed through the files. Her own file, Vanessa Morganna Blimsbee, was easy to find and full of disiplinary referals.

She smiled at some of them, like the one she got for single handedly covering every surface with shaving cream in the mess hall, or the one that she got for setting goats loose through the halls, painting the numbers 1,2, and 4 on them. She had gotten the idea from an American television show. It had been a good laugh for everyone when the administration was frantically searching for number three.

Some of the referrals were absolute rubbish! Like the one where she had been written up for burning a girl when she was a good five feet away from her. Or where all the glass shattered in the mess hall when she was seven. She skimmed passed these with a frown until she found what she was looking for.

It was a thick envelope made of fine parchment. The spidery writing on the front was emblazoned in emerald. It was addressed to Nessa Black, with the last name Blimsbee in parentheses. She opened it hastily, not caring anymore about getting caught. She was only twelve, after all. It wasn't like they could kick her out for her behavior, eveen though they threatened too quite often.

The letter was confusing. "Dear Miss Black," it read, "you have been accepted to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

She thought back to Mandy Mackleson's taunting earlier that day.

"You know, you're such a witch!" the girl had cackled.

"Stop being so mean, Mandy!" Nessa huffed, stomping her foot. She was always being teased for being different.

"I'm not," the girl replied innocently. "It's true. Mr. Hackberry has a letter from some school. It says that you're a witch."

Nessa looked back down at the letter in her hand, pushing her unruly black hair out of her face. Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Maybe there was some truth in Mandy's taunting. Maybe she was a freak, a witch. Pocketing the letter, she closed her file and replaced, leaving no trace of her having been there behind.

She was a witch. That explained a lot, but it also brought up a lot of questions. Were her parents magical? Was her father's last name Black? Why did Mr. Hackberry never tell her about the letter? Why wasn't she at this Hogwarts instead of at this stupid orphanage that didn't want her? Was that why her mother had given her up? She was going to confront Mr. Hackberry about this first thing in the morning, she decided, feeling hollow as she made her way back to the dormitories.

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The next morning was chaotic as everyone rushed to get ready for the school year that was starting in a weeek. The Brunson Preparitory School and Orphanage took in students of rich parents who wanted to get rid of their kids for a while to pay for its orphans. Nessa wandered down the hall to the dean's office, the letter she had discovered the night before in her hand, determination mixed with sleep on her face. She didn't care how busy he was, he was going to explain why she wasn't learning how to be a witch.

"Miss Blimsbee, what can I do you for?" the man asked around his usual cigar. The large circular bald spot on his head gleamed in the harsh overhead light.

"We need to talk," she said, using a tone she had heard adults use in films. It was threatening and sharp. She threw the letter on the desk and spalyed her hands palm down on the smooth wooden surface, leaning forwards and trying to look imposing. Her grey eyes were narrowed to slits.

"Make it quick," the man said, picking up the letter. "What is this?"

"I was hoping you could tell me that," She said, curling her fingers up, digging her nails into the desk. "I found it in my file lat night."

Mr. Hackberry's face turned red and he pulled the cigar out of his mouth. "What were you doing in your file? Miss Bimsbee, you are aware of the consequences for stealing. I-"

"I don't see how it is stollen if it belongs to me!" She screamed, standing up straight. "Why did you never show this to me, opr at least tell me about it?"

"Because," he said, also standing up, "if any of the parents found out about us having a bloody witch in the school, they would take their children out! Then how would we get funding?"

Nessa was quiet a second, her tiny nostrils flaring as she tried to think past her anger., The dean was a man who only thought about business. The orphans never saw any of the funds as all the money was spent on the school. After a long second, she quietly said, "I want to go."

"No," Mr. Hackburry said with a note of finality.

But Nessa wasn't going to give up. "Yes," she countered, making to snatch the letter from him. "It's not your choice is it?"

"That's besides the point. You are not going so long as you live here, understand?"

"Then I wont live here." She said, a hint of desperation in her voice. "I will find my mother and I will go to school at Hogwarts. Give me my letter."

He looked afraid of her for a moment, but he soon recovered and was handing the thick parchment to her. "Your mother made it quite clear that she didn't want you to come looking for her."

"Too bad," she muttered, turning on her heel. "I would say it was nice knowing you, but it wasn't."

"Wait- Vanessa!" He called after her as she slammed the door. The glass window shattered from the force, but she didn't care as she headed back to her room. She was going to leave the damned orphanage, find her mother, and then find a way to Hogwarts.

However badly she wanted to leave, she found that she couldn't. Mr. Hackberry was determined to keep her from leaving, putting the place on lockdown immediately after she left his office. Nessa moped angrily at the old man, wishing that he would just let go of her. She had been the first orphan to spend their entire life at the orphanage, and she probably would spend her entire life tere if he had his way. She hated him for it.

Around noon, there was knock at the door. Nessa, who had spent the entire day sitting on the edge of her bed with her chin resting on her fists, got up grumpily to open the door, only to find an older orphan, a cute boy named Travis, holding a sheaf of paper in his hand.

"This is for you," he said lamely, looking staight at the floor.

"Who's it from?" Nessa asked, her voice shaking. If she was being honest with herself, she was totally in love with him. Had been since he had shown up five years prior.

"Hackberry," Travis mumbled to the floor. "You have an appointment later today."

"Great," Nessa mumbled, yanking the slip of paper from his hand. She slammed the door on his face, ignoring the desire to invite him inside. The paper was a salmon pink color with cramped writing. She had an appointment for eight in the morning the next day. Grumbling to herself, she crumbled up the paper and threw across the room.

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Eight in the morning came too fast for Nessa. Unfortunately for her, she slept through her alarm, waking up to find that she had less than three minutes to get dressed nd get to the appointment. She was fifteen minutes late, having decided that there was no sense in rushing if she was going to be late regardless.

"Miss Blimsbee," Hackberry scolded whe she walked into the office, "you are late, as usual."

Nessa shrugged, taking in the enormous man sstanding in front of Hackberry's desk.

"Who're you?" She asked, quite rudely.

"This," Hackberry said in an exasperated voice, "is Mr. Hagrid. He is from Hogwarts."

The man held out his hand out, with was the size of a dust pan, and said, "Just Hagrid will do just fine." He had a thick accent that Nessa found very entertaining.

"So you changed your mind?" She said pointedly to Hackberry. "I wont be disgracing your crooked business by going to school there?"

"Now, Vanessa, I understand that you are upset with me-"

"Upset?" She repeatedincredulously. "I don't think tht is quite strong enough a word." She turned back to Hagrid, plastering a fake grin on her face. "Are we leaving now?"

"Well, first yeh have to go shopping for yer supplies." He chuckled. "Now, yeh understand that you will be a year behind the other students yer age, correct?"

Nessa turned to Hackberry with an evil glare; it was one that could melt the skin off of his face. "No," she said tersely, "I had no idea."

"Well," Hagrid said, sensing how angry she was, "yeh were supposed to start last year, but given yer situation yeh'll be startin' this year."

"Alright!" Nessa chimed brightly. She didn't care as long as she could get out of that horrible orphanage.

The rest of the appointment was a blurr. Nessa knew that she should've been paying attention, but couldn't bring herself to do it. All she could think was that she was finally, for the first time in her life, going to be leaving.

A/N: So, this is just a little idea that I had. Actually, I was originally trying to write a character sketch for one of my nanowrimo characters, and ended up with this. I'm really interested to see where it goes. I have about as much of a clue as you, dear readers, do. The quote is from "Was it a lie" by Sleater-kinney.

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